S2E8: Cross My Wings and Hope To Fly Part 2
by BeyondTheClouds777
Summary: ***SEQUEL TO "CROSS MY WINGS AND HOPE TO FLY PART 1"*** An old enemy has returned, and the dragon riders work together to devise a plan. A plan to throw off the dragon hunter's attack, and to steal back the Dragon Eye.
1. Chapter 1

**WARNING: RACE TO THE EDGE SPOILERS!**

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 **I'm early.**

 **Again.**

 **But I know none of you are going to be disappointed that I didn't follow my release dates! :D I post everything too early...c'mon, why can't Dreamworks do that, too? XD I'm glad so many of you seemed to _LOVE_ that cliffhanger on the last episode (pfffftttthhahahahAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!), so I'm posting early! :D I love you all, and enjoy chapter 1! :D **

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Astrid paced back and forth, back and forth, across the dirty floor of her cell. Beside her, behind her, and all around her, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut sat moping. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were playing hangman in the dirt (though this quickly became a problem, as neither of them knew how to spell) while Snotlout had his head against the wall, and Fishlegs was sitting quietly in the corner.

"I can't believe Barreck betrayed us," said Snotlout, his voice amplified as it bounced off the cold brick walls of their shared cell. "After all we did for him, helping him, showing him the Edge...I even let him share my house! My dad's going to kill me if he finds out a traitor slept under his roof!"

"Then don't let him know," said Tuffnut offhandedly.

"And Barreck was the one who got me angry with Fishlegs in the first place!" said Snotlout. "He lied to me about something he said, and turned me against my friend! Ooh, if I ever find Barreck, I'm going to-"

"It doesn't matter!" said Astrid. "Nothing you threaten him with right now matters!" In the cell across the room, the dragons were coming out of their sedations, still dizzy and disoriented. "Barreck faked Hiccup's letter, too," she said lowly. "Who knows what that...that creep did to Hiccup…"

"Well, Viggo tried to kill Hiccup last time they met," said Ruffnut, "so really, we can't put anything past them."

Snotlout, Fishlegs, Tuffnut, and Astrid glared at her.

"Or," said Ruffnut, "I can just shut up now."

"Yes, do that," said Astrid, and she resumed her pacing.

She heard the sound of the door leading inside the prison opening and shutting, and when she looked, she watched as Barreck approached. He was clad in entirely different apparel than he had been before; he wore a long-sleeved black shirt beneath gleaming silver jagged armor, and a black cape was draped around his shoulders and clipped loosely around his neck with a pin engraved with the dragon hunter's crest.

"Viggo and I would like a word with Astrid," said Barreck, pulling a ring of bronze keys from his belt and stepping forward to unlock the door. Astrid crossed her arms tightly over her chest.

"If this is an interrogation-" she began threateningly.

"This is not an interrogation," said Barreck. "We simply wish to have...a little _chat_."

Smiling coldly, he unlocked the door, seized Astrid's forearm, yanked her out, and slammed the door again before anyone could try and escape. Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins dropped what they were doing and raced before the door, grappling the bars.

"If you hurt her, even a little bit-" Ruffnut threatened.

"We have no reason to harm any of you," said Barreck coolly; now that Astrid knew Barreck was a hunter, she realized just how much of Viggo he reminded her of. Barreck smiled even colder. "Yet," he added, and just like that, he clipped the keyring back to his belt, put his hands on Astrid's shoulders, and led her away.

"I can't believe you betrayed us," said Astrid lowly, glancing at Barreck over her shoulder as he pushed her out of the prison cell and back up the hallway with earthen walls and floors. "After everything we did for you…"

"It is not betrayal if you never intend to befriend, Astrid Hofferson," said Barreck. "When I supposedly 'washed up' on your shores, I did it with the mindset of betraying you. Thereby, in betraying you, I wasn't actually betraying you. I was simply being true to myself."

"I knew you weren't to be trusted," Astrid snarled. "I _knew_ you weren't. And so did Hiccup."

"Oh, yes," said Barreck, nodding. "It is quite unfortunate, the lengths we had to go through with that boy...a rightful pain in the backside, he is. He discovered I was a dragon hunter shortly after his little 'outburst' in your Clubhouse."

"And what did you do to him then?" Astrid demanded.

Barreck shrugged. "He knew too much," he said simply. "You do not let someone who can rat you out to escape your clutches."

Astrid was about to call Barreck something very unlady-like, when they suddenly came to their destination: the circular room, which Astrid had now decided was the the Clubhouse of the dragon hunter base, so to say. Ryker and Viggo were sitting at a rectangular mahogany table calmly; two unoccupied chairs sat across from them.

"Welcome, Astrid," said Viggo, spreading his hands. "What an honor this is."

"The honor is all yours, Viggo," snarled Astrid.

"Please, sit," said Viggo, gesturing to one of the two chairs, and once Astrid had taken her seat (albeit reluctantly), Barreck took his own seat beside her and folded his hands over the smooth tabletop. "We have a few things to discuss. But to make it fair, Astrid, I am going to let you ask me a question first. We shall have an exchange. Go on. There must be something you want to know."

Astrid glared at him coldly, but she couldn't exactly deny that he was right. "How did you survive?" she said flatly.

"Ah," said Viggo, nodding. "Yes. That _is_ a brilliant tale. Let's begin with directly after Hiccup's attempted murder, shall we? Let me think…"

He leaned back in his chair, tapping his chin in mock thought.

"When we planned to assassinate Hiccup," said Viggo, "Ryker and I also devised a backup plan should the Berkians triumph over us in the final battle. This backup plan was for me to fake my death, to give the hunters a reason to retreat that didn't seem cowardly. It also gave the Berkians and the dragon riders a false sense of security, as my men are nearly helpless without their leader."

"But that doesn't explain _how_ you faked your death," said Astrid.

"Right, I suppose it doesn't," said Viggo, nodding his agreement. "In the fight, I made certain my brother sank at least one ship from either armada. Even if he had to sink one of our own ships. As I sank to the bottom of the ocean, I sank with another ship. Inside the ship, there was a large air pocket, which I took shelter and breathed in while the fight continued above. After the Berkians and the Berserkers retreated and went their separate ways, my hunters returned, fished me from the depths of the ocean, and we plotted our next scheme."

Astrid turned this new information around in her head. Yes, it made sense, and it was just the thing Viggo would think of.

"Now that you have had your question," said Viggo, "allow me to ask you one of my own. It is very similar to your question, in fact, Astrid."

Astrid looked up, teeth gritted. "What do you want?"

"I am interested," said Viggo, "as to how Hiccup faked his own death. On any account, he should have died the instant the dagger passed through his abdomen."

"You didn't hit any organs," said Astrid. "You should know, Viggo, that assassinating someone works a lot better if you stab them in the _chest_ and not their _stomach._ It took a while, but the wound mended itself, and time healed it the rest of the way."

"Ah," said Viggo. "Not as clever as I had hoped it would be."

"Hiccup didn't fake his death," Astrid snarled. "You tried to murder him. He couldn't exactly _plan that out_ for himself, could he?"

"Perhaps," said Viggo, shrugging, "perhaps not. Now, Miss Hofferson, it is your turn to ask a question."

"Where are you keeping Hiccup?" It was originally going to be her first question, but she didn't have the heart to ask it beforehand. "I promise on my life, Viggo, if you've hurt him in _any way-"_

"Let us remain on track," said Viggo. "We are questioning each other, Astrid, not threatening each other. There is plenty of time for that later."

"Where. Are. You. Keeping. Hiccup?" Astrid spat.

"Somewhere…" Viggo paused and tapped his chin again in the mocking way he did so often, and Astrid wanted to strangle him for it. "What would you call our little prison, Blade?" he asked Barreck offhandedly. "You gave a good description of it earlier. I quite liked it. What was it again?"

"I like to call it," said Barreck, "the watery grave."

"Ah, yes," said Viggo, turning back to Astrid. "Wonderful. That is where we are keeping Hiccup."

"That doesn't answer my question," said Astrid.

"I answered it in the way I saw fit," said Viggo. "Now let me ask you a question, Astrid. If I were to ask you to give me any inside information as it pertains to you, your island, and your dragon rider team, what would your answer be?"

Astrid didn't hesitate. "No way," she growled.

"Fair is fair," said Viggo calmly, waving his hand. "I didn't expect you to give in so quickly. Perhaps Hiccup would know more about it...yes, I'm sure he would...he's the heir of your home island, isn't he?"

"Hiccup will never talk," Astrid snapped. "You're wasting your time, Viggo Grimborn."

"I think not," said Viggo, smiling. "Because this time, I have the upper hand."

"Oh, really?" Astrid snarked, tossing her hair out of her face. "And what is that?"

Viggo smirked. "You," he said. "But in complete honesty, Astrid, Hiccup is not on the island at all."

Astrid's features instantly brightened. "He's not?" she said. _Thank Thor, thank Thor…_

"But of course," said Viggo, "that does not mean he isn't in a... _predicament."_

"What do you mean?"

"Watery grave, Astrid," said Viggo. "Watery grave. If Hiccup survives, the first place he will go is here, and when he gets here, I will get as much information out of him as I can, and then, I will kill him. But of course, if he doesn't survive, he's dead anyways, which saves me the trouble of trying to kill him again. Either way, Astrid, I win."

"You won't win," Astrid said, shaking her head. "Hiccup will never talk. There's nothing you can do to him that'll make him tell you _anything_."

"And perhaps you are right," said Viggo. "But he might have a bit of a looser tongue it meant sparing your life, or the life of your dragon riders." He nodded to Barreck. "That is all. If you do not mind, you may escort her back to her cell."

"Certainly," said Barreck, standing. "The pleasure is all mine." And he seized Astrid's forearm and shoved her forward, leading her back towards the prison cell she had left only moments before.

Viggo smiled. "Either way, I win in the end," he whispered, more to himself than anything. "I always win in the end."

When Astrid was thrown back into her cells, and after Barreck left, she was bombarded by questions from the rest of the riders.

"What did he want?" said Fishlegs.

"Nothing," said Astrid. "Just asked me some questions...I figured out how he faked his death." She recounted as much of their conversation as she could remember, and the others listened in silence, gasping when she finished.

"So, Hiccup's basically either going to die by drowning, or die by Viggo," said Tuffnut. "Honestly, I'd pick the drowning."

"But we don't know where Hiccup is," said Fishlegs. "Even if we could break out of here, we wouldn't know where to find him."

"Wherever he is," said Astrid, "he's definitely in danger."

She had never felt so helpless in her entire life.


	2. Chapter 2

**AWWWWWWW you guys and your reviews make me so HAPPY. :D Thanks! :D I decided to be a nice little cliffhanger-writer and give you chapter 2 today! :D But before that...shout-outs! :D**

 **ShadowSpirit020: You'll find out with Toothless the same time you find out about Hiccup. I promise you that. ;)**

 **SilverGhostWolf: Yep! No one cares WHEN I post so much as I DO post and I post early enough. :) Thanks! :D**

 **Crystallion12: Yessss, Viggo and Barreck BOTH deserve to die...yeah. :)**

 **RubyTheSkyWing: Yes, they do deserve to die, don't they? ;) Thanks for the review! :D The villains are TOTALLY evil and we all TOTALLY want their heads...but alas. :( NOT YET. XD**

 **Dimentional Phaser: And I...have...updated! :D**

 **Dimensional Girl: That's just about how everyone feels right now about the dragon hunters. They hunters are obnoxious, annoying, and we all want them dead. :D**

 **midnightsky0612: TIME FOR YOUR GRAND ENTRANCE, HICCUP! :D**

 **bella: Yeah I updated early, LOL! :D**

 **TomBoyBookGirl: Thanks a bunch! :D Yeah, I think so far, between these two parts and Skeletons in the Closet, I've had the most fun writing. I know what you mean about smart villains; when the villains are idiots, I wish they were smarter, and when the villains are smarter, I wish they were idiots. :/ Hahaha! :D Thanks for the review! :D**

 **Animals Rule: Aww, thank you! :D**

 **Galaxy-Mitsuko-Pegasus: Hahaha, LOL! :D Yeah, sorry about the cliffhanger...but hey, I had to end it somewhere, right? And what better way to do that then on a cliffhanger? :D Let's see if Hiccup can survive his predicament. :D**

 **Gamer Spice: Hahahahaha, don't be sorry, I want them dead, too! XD I love those villains that you love to hate. They're so much fun to write about. It's kind of weird how fun it is to write the villains, actually. XD But yeah, I'm done with Viggo and the hunters, too. :D Thanks for the review! :D**

 **Forever Me: We will find out where Viggo and Barreck are keeping Hiccup...sooon...and I proimise, I haven't forgotten about Toothless, either! :D We find out where he is the same time we find out where Hiccup is. :) Thanks for the review! :D**

 **DragonRobotkid676: And you don't have to anymore! 'Cause here it is! :D**

 **Jo: Thanks! :D I'm glad you're happy! And where is Hiccup? We shall learn soon! :D**

 **SnivyDragon: Yeah, everything would be hopeless, if it wasn't for Hiccup. Villains in movies/TV series are always undermining the heroes...it's kind of annoying, but effective, I suppose. After all, it's every vilalin's goal to think they're the best, even when the hero is one hundred percent better than them. XD Haha, LOL, yeah, I like cliffhangers. They make me want to update faster, too! They make me excited to write the next chapter. :) Thanks for the review! :D**

 **MaximumRide159: Thanks! :D I love posting early, and I'm glad everyone else seems to love that I do, too! :D Thanks for the review! :D**

 **LunarCatNinja: Yeah, I imagine all of Viggo's hunters be like, "I don't get paid enough for this..." LOL! :D I would NOT want to work for Viggo no matter WHAT he gave me. HE. IS. EVIL. XD Thanks for the review! :D**

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Salt water spraying against his face was what finally brought Hiccup back to reality. Blinking feverishly to clear his sight, he found himself in a nearly dark cave. Weird. He didn't remember coming here. His head felt like it'd been smashed with a forge hammer (and he knew exactly what that felt like, as he had accidentally experienced it himself when he was seven), and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't remember coming into the cave in the first place.

More water hit him in the face, and as he spat it out of his mouth, he realized that he was up to his waist in water. Ocean water. He tried to step away, but then, he realized the problem. A large chain was shackled around his ankle. When he pulled, he found that the other end of the chain must have been bolted to a rock beneath him, because he couldn't move it very far without losing his slack.

Great, just great. Well, at least it couldn't get any worse…

He heard a low growl come from the corner, and instantly, he whipped his head around in that direction. Toothless was chained with large, dragon-proof ones, like the ones Hiccup was also chained with. The dragon's mouth was clamped shut by a pair of metal shackles.

"Toothless!" Hiccup called, and saltwater sprayed into his mouth. He coughed and spat.

Okay, so maybe it _was_ a little worse than he had thought it was…

Then, he realized that the water was no longer up to his waist; it was nearly up to his chest.

Which meant it was rising.

The tide was sweeping through the cave.

"GREAT!" Hiccup said, thrashing slightly. "Well, this is productive! How did we end up _here?_ "

He tried to think back; he remembered his friends fighting, he remembered finally getting to the end of his rope with them, he remembered storming off, he remembered Barreck catching up to him-

His brain screeched to a halt.

"BARRECK!" Hiccup shouted. "He knocked me out! He threw us in here! That filthy rotten... _traitor!_ Oooh, when I get my hands on him…"

But right now, that wasn't the problem. The problem was the tide coming in, the problem was the fact that they were chained without much hope of escape…

But wait.

"Barreck didn't kill us," Hiccup said, looking over at Toothless, who met his gaze instantly. "Which means he doesn't want us dead...he wants us to escape. He _wants_ us to escape. Which means he made a way for us to escape. There has to be something in here that can help us…"

Toothless growled his agreement.

Yep, still, no help at all. Hiccup couldn't think of how on earth they were going to get out of this one…

Wait.

Earth.

"I wonder…" Hiccup said slowly, and he, without fully thinking about what he was doing, dove beneath the water. He could hear Toothless roar at him from above, but the sound was muffled; he could barely make it out.

All he was focused on was the large chain, bolted with a gigantic lock to the largest rock on the cave's floor. Hiccup, holding his breath, grabbed a handful of sand from the cave's sandy ground and stuffed it into the locking mechanism of the lock.

He made a mental note that the locks weren't dragon proof. There was a reason for that, too; another hint that Barreck had trapped them with the intention of letting them escape. And of course, if they didn't escape, they would drown, and Hiccup was sure the hunters wouldn't be too upset about that…

He jammed as much sand as he could into the lock, and when his lungs finally ran out of air, he kicked his feet and broke the surface. The water was now to his chest, nearly touching his shoulders.

If they didn't get out soon…

Hiccup grabbed the chain and gave it a hard jerk. It didn't give. He yanked it again, harder the second time, and this time, thankfully, blessedly, the lock's mechanism was compromised by the amounts of sand jammed into it, and the strength of Hiccup's yanks finally did it.

The lock snapped, and Hiccup was flung backwards, into the water. He resurfaced quickly this time, however, coughing and choking and still grinning like an idiot.

"Yes!" he cheered. "It worked!"

Toothless growled at him happily, and Hiccup wasted no time in diving back beneath the waves and swimming towards the dragon. The chain was still shackled to his wrist, but without the bolt attaching it to the rock, he was free.

He broke the surface of the water, brushing wet hair out of his face. "Don't let your head get in the water, bud!" he shouted to Toothless, and then, he dove back beneath the surface. Dragons couldn't light their fire if their heads were wet.

Toothless' chains were exactly like Hiccup's were; thick and dragon proof, but with a non-dragon proof lock. Hiccup broke the surface again; using the sand-in-the-lock would take too long. They would drown before they had a chance to get out.

Hiccup wrestled the muzzle off Toothless' head with little to no effort and tossed it carelessly into the water.

"Now, fire at the lock, Toothless!" Hiccup said, and Toothless, after taking aim, released a large bout of plasma, straight down at the lock. The lock was destroyed, and Toothless' chains fell free, just as the tide swept in, and the water level rose all the way to the roof.

Hiccup, holding his breath, pulled himself onto Toothless' back, and Toothless sped towards the mouth of the cave, through the water.

For a few moments, Hiccup could hear nothing but water rushing through his ears and his heartbeat pounding against his throat.

And then, Toothless broke out of the mouth of the cave and skyrocketed into the open, clear blue air, blissfully free. Hiccup threw his hands above his head, silently cheering their escape.

"It worked!" he said. "It worked, it worked, it worked!"

He looked over his shoulder; Dragon's Edge was right there, standing peacefully as if nothing had ever happened.

"Let's fly over, bud," Hiccup said to Toothless, and Toothless turned, spread his wings, and shot straight towards their base. The Night Fury landed on the platform in front of the Clubhouse, and Hiccup dismounted, racing towards it, hoping that his friends were still here, hoping they hadn't ventured to the dragon hunter's base without him…

He threw open the doors, and his shoulders slumped in disappointment.

It was empty. The weapons were gone, the dragons were gone, and the maps were sitting untouched on the table.

"Oh no…" Hiccup whispered. "They left...this is bad…"

Toothless came up behind him and growled. Hiccup stepped into the silent Clubhouse, looking around, half-hoping for the first time in his life that the twins would leap out in front of him and shout "LOKI-D!" in his face.

But they never did.

"Why'd they leave without us?" Hiccup finally asked, turning to look at Toothless. "They wouldn't have left without us, especially if they didn't know where we where…"

That's when his eyes caught sight of the small, slightly crumpled piece of parchment that certainly hadn't been there last time Hiccup was in the Clubhouse. Brow furrowed, he moved over to investigate, taking the paper, smoothing it out, and reading it to himself.

"' _Dear Astrid, Fishlegs, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, and Barreck,'_ " he read, and Toothless listened, " _'with everything happening between you guys, I decided it'd be safer for us all if…'_ Oh no…" He stopped reading there. He had heard enough. "Barreck made them think I'd already left!" Hiccup said. "Oh, Thor, that traitor...he's almost as smart as Viggo! No wonder he's working with the hunters! I bet Ryker hired him for his brains! Got a little tired of having to use his own for once, I guess!"

Toothless growled at the note, and as soon as Hiccup returned it to its spot on the table, Toothless blew it up with a small purple firework of a plasma blast.

"Which means," said Hiccup, "if those guys bought the note...Barreck led them straight into a trap."

He gasped at this realization. He had already realized it before, in his mind, but speaking it out loud made it all the worse.

"Come on, Toothless," Hiccup said, swinging his leg over Toothless' back and clicking his prosthetic into the pedal to control the Night Fury's tailfin. "We have to go after them before they get themselves killed."

Toothless growled at him.

"I know, I know, we don't have a plan," Hiccup said, "yet, but...we can't leave them at Ryker's mercy. Who knows what that maniac's capable of."

Toothless nodded his reluctant agreement, spread his wings, and shot through the door of the Clubhouse and back into clear, open sky, pounding his wings against the air, flying as fast as he possibly could, prosthetic set on the fastest gear it had.

Hiccup narrowed his eyes, already formulating his plan. "If you hurt my friends, Barreck," he growled, more to himself than anything, "I'm going to make _sure_ you live regretting it."


	3. Chapter 3

**I just have to say, guys, that I am insanely excited about this story. Too excited. (I mean, seriously, three chapters today? That only happens when I'm SUPER excited about something. :D) Because I know what's going to happen and...EEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK. XD**

 **Oh, and side-note: MY POLL HAS BEEN UPDATED, AND PART 1 AND 2 OF "CROSS MY WINGS AND HOPE TO FLY" HAVE BEEN ADDED THERE! IF YOU WANT TO, PLEASE GO VOTE! I AM INSANELY INTRIGUED AS TO WHICH EPISODE MY READERS LIKED BEST! :D :D :D :D :D **

**Shout-outs:**

 **wikelia: Sorry...:(**

 **Galaxy-Mitsuko-Pegasus: Yes, Hiccup to the rescue! Whoop whoop! :D Yes, it will be very interesting...I am so excited about this story. :D**

 **Dimentional Phaser: Truer words have never been spoken. :D**

 **LunarCatNinja: Yep. Angry. Not good. Hiccup had better figure it out soon...**

 **ShadowSpirit020: Barreck locked Toothless up with Hiccup so Toothless wouldn't cause confusion amongst the dragon riders as they wondered where Hiccup had gone without Toothless, and so Toothless couldn't save Hiccup. :) EVIL BARRECK I WANT HIM DEAD.**

 **SnivyDragon: The dragon hunters are SO going to regret ever messing with Hiccup and his friends, especially Barreck and Viggo. I want all the dragon hunters to pay...and I look forward to writing Hiccup and Viggo's meeting. That should be fun. :D Thanks for the review! :D**

 **The Ink Splotches: Yeah, Hiccup isn't going to be too happy when he meets up with Barreck. And Barreck isn't going to be too happy when he meets up with Hiccup, either. XD I love the ocean...right up until something brushes up against my leg. Then, I turn into Queen Nope. XD Go Hiccup! Devise that plan! :D SEEK VENGENANCE! XD**

 **Charr2003: I can promise you more Hiccstrid in this story for sure. :D GO HICCUP! GO TEAM! WHAT TEAM!? *screams in the distance* HICCUP'S TEAM! Astrid may have the A-Team, but Hiccup has THE-Team. XD Thanks for the review! :D I know I sometimes update too fast for you to. ;)**

 **SilverGhostWolf: Yay, he survived! :D**

 **The Brucest Writer: Thank you so much! :D Yes, I think out of all of the other episodes so far (besides Skeletons in the Closet), these two have been my favorite to write. And I have a lot more planned for Cross My Wings and Hope to Fly Part 2, so stay tuned! :D Thanks a bunch for the review! :D I really appreciate the feedback! :D**

 **RubyTheSkyWing: GO, HICCUP! DESTROY THE HUNTERS! :D**

 **HappyPup1: Yes...not a very good move on your part, Barreck...XD**

 **Animals Rule: We'll see what happens. :) And yeah, I suppose I am popular around here...well, I've been here for a while, and I've written a lot. ;)**

 **Guest (#1): I'm sure you did. :)**

 **Dimensional Girl: And you thought I was evil...XD Probably not in this fic, unfortunately, but maybe in another one! :D**

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"Hiccup has not come to release his friends," said Viggo calmly, staring out a barred window of their underground cavern beneath their base. "Are you quite sure you made it simple enough for him to escape, Blade?"

"I explained," said Barreck coolly. "Hiccup is a genius. You would be able to escape easily if one were to put you in the same position. Hiccup has a chance of escaping."

"And of course," said Viggo, "if he didn't manage to free himself, he would be dead, wouldn't he?"

"Quite," agreed Barreck. "Dead as a doornail. But I do not think he is dead, dear friend. I believe he has already escaped and is making his way towards us now."

"I agree," said Viggo, nodding. "In which case, withdraw the guards from their position of guarding the Dragon Eye, and have them double the guards of the prison."

Barreck smiled. "Because we both know," he said, "that Hiccup will not leave here without his friends."

"And if he _does_ somehow manage to find the Dragon Eye beforehand," said Viggo, "we will simply steal it back from him when he reaches the cells. Care to make it so, my friend?"

Barreck nodded, smiling. "It will be made so, Snare," he said, and he turned and walked back down the long tunnel, towards the prison.

...

Barreck returned to the prison the next day, smiling cruelly. Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut looked up at him, glaring coldly.

"I have brought a few extra guards to help keep you company," said Barreck, gesturing to a large group of well-armed dragon hunter soldiers behind him, who instantly spread themselves about the room, hiding in the shadows so that they were impossible to see.

Astrid lifted her head. Then, as soon as Barreck left, she turned back to the other riders, whispering so that none of the many guards heard her speak.

"They're doubling the guards," she said, "because they think Hiccup escaped."

"Yes!" said Snotlout quietly, fist-bumping Tuffnut. "I knew he could do it!"

"But they're redoubling the guards," said Fishlegs quietly, "because they know the first place Hiccup will go is here, to try and save us."

"What's wrong with that?" said Tuffnut, eying Fishlegs suspiciously. "Do you not _want_ to be saved? You go through all this trouble not to get captured, and when you _do_ get captured, you don't want to be rescued."

"No," said Astrid. "You heard what Viggo said. He'll kill Hiccup."

"Um, I _could_ be wrong," said Snotlout, "but the last time Viggo tried to kill Hiccup, Hiccup ended up being perfectly fine, and Viggo ended up nearly dying himself. The entire Berkian armada and the Berserker army was against him."

"Um, I could be wrong, too," said Fishlegs, raising his finger, "but I hardly think getting a dagger through your stomach can hardly count as being 'perfectly fine.'"

"I didn't say he was fine _instantly!"_ said Snotlout. "Thor! Do I have to specify _everything_ I say?"

"Viggo isn't going to slip up a second time," said Astrid. "I wouldn't be surprised if he and his men shot Hiccup and Toothless down the instant they got in firing range."

All eyes turned to her instantly, all full of shock and horror.

"And...what?" said Snotlout finally. "What do we do?"

"What _can_ we do, Snotlout?" said Ruffnut sadly. "We let Barreck lead us into a trap. We did it to ourselves. If we hadn't been so busy fighting we probably would have figured it out a _lot_ sooner."

"Let's just hope Hiccup is okay," said Astrid. "And...let's hope he doesn't come here at all."

"This," said Tuffnut, "is the weirdest thing ever, but okay. Let's hope Hiccup doesn't rescue us."

"We'll figure out a way out ourselves," said Astrid. "Without Hiccup. If Hiccup _does_ come after us…"

Well…

No one wanted to finish _that_ statement.

…

Toothless shot across the blackening sky. Night was falling rapidly, the sun sinking behind the horizon as though pulled down. It was falling fast; too fast. Night was coming, and Hiccup knew that he and Toothless were also coming up on the dragon hunter base.

"Okay!" Hiccup said. "So we know there's an entrance from the water, in the cave Barreck told us about...I don't think he was lying about _that_. He would have lured the dragon riders inside the base before revealing his true identity."

Toothless growled and shot towards the water, flying close to the surface of the waves. After a few more minutes of flying, the sun finally disappeared, and the dragon hunter base came into sight.

It was hard to see anything in the dark, but Hiccup still managed to find the shoreline of the island. When he did, he pointed towards it.

"Do your thing, Toothless," he said.

Toothless nodded and fired a plasma blast into the water. Upon impact, purple rings spread from it, and Hiccup was able to make out the opening of a cave beneath the waves in the faint glow of light.

"There, I saw it!" he said, pointing to the water. "That's the entrance!"

Toothless shot towards it, wings tucked close to his body. He dove into the water and curved upwards into the cave; there was a steep uphill climb, still in water, but then, they broke the surface, and Toothless landed on solid ground.

They were in.

Hiccup dismounted, drawing his dagger from his belt, which he had grabbed just before leaving the Clubhouse. "Alright…" he said, looking around. "That was...too easy."

The earthen walls were lined with torches, but there wasn't a soldier in sight. Hiccup looked carefully, making sure there weren't any lurking in the shadows, and then, he stepped forward, Toothless walking behind in his wake.

When they reached the three-way branch in the tunnel, Hiccup looked, thinking silently to himself, brows furrowed. "So…" he said. "Barreck wanted us to go down the center tunnel, didn't he?"

Toothless growled his agreement.

"In which case," said Hiccup, "we'll go down the opposite tunnel." He looked to the left, and then, he looked to the right.

Which way to go?"

"Um...left," he said. "No, wait, right…" And he and Toothless turned and made their way down the right hand tunnel. The floor sloped steeply, and Hiccup was careful not to slip. The ground finally leveled out, but he couldn't see anything; it was pitch black down here.

Then, suddenly, up ahead, he saw a light. A single ray of light, cast by a chandelier up ahead with lit candles strung from it, hanging from the earthen ceiling. Hiccup looked up at it, and then looked at the object it was hanging over.

Hiccup gasped.

The Dragon Eye sat on a hay-colored brick pedestal.

"No way," Hiccup whispered to himself, shaking his head. "No _way_ …" He stepped forward, half expecting soldiers to leap from the shadows and tackle him…

But they never did, and he took another step forward, watching where he stepped should the floor be boobytrapped.

"We found it," he said, and he smiled, exhaling through his mouth. "I can't believe we actually _found it_ …"

He reached a hand out towards it.

And stopped at the last second, his smile fading. He looked at the Dragon Eye, and then, he looked back up at the tunnel that had led them down here in the first place. Toothless watched him in confusion, wondering silently what Hiccup was planning.

"We'll come back for it," said Hiccup. "But first, we need to find the others."

And he and Toothless left back up the tunnel from whence they had come, heading upwards, back to the three-way fork.

"Alright," Hiccup said once they had returned. "This time, let's go down the left tunnel...this should be the one that leads to the prison…"

He and Toothless took a step forward.

And that was as far as they got before they were ambushed by the dragon hunter soldiers. They came out of nowhere, in all directions, and Hiccup and Toothless didn't have time to react.

…

Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins waited in their cell, hoping against hope that somehow, in the end, everything would turn out alright. Astrid was trying to think up a plan in her head, but her thoughts were muddled, and her hopes were crushed by the intimidating prison bars placed between them and freedom.

Footsteps suddenly broke her from her fug of thoughts, and she turned. Barreck and Viggo stepped into her line of sight, dozens of soldiers around them.

"We are moving Astrid to a different cell," said Viggo, "but only temporarily." Barreck slid the key into the lock, opened the door, and Ryker grabbed Astrid's forearm and yanked her out before she could protest. Barreck slammed the door and locked it behind them.

"She will return to you soon enough," said Viggo coldly, and turning with Ryker, Barreck, and Astrid, they headed off.

"I'll be fine!" Astrid called over her shoulder at her friends. "Don't worry about me! They won't hurt me!"

"Strong words coming from the mouth of a prisoner," snapped Ryker.

"Ryker, calm yourself," said Viggo coolly. "This woman is our guest. Treat her with respect."

"She is our prisoner," said Ryker angrily.

"You know," said Astrid, trying to think clearly and not let her fear get the better of her. Ryker, Viggo, and Barreck turned and led her up the tunnel leading down to the prisons, but she barely registered this, "Hiccup isn't going to like the fact that you captured us, and when he gets here, he is going to end you all-"

"An empty threat," said Viggo calmly.

"How come?" snapped Astrid.

Viggo smiled, putting his hand against the door leading out of the prison cells. "He's already here," said Viggo.

Astrid hardly had the chance to register this before Viggo pushed the door open.

Hiccup was standing, two soldiers on either of his sides, hands clasped around his forearms to restrain him. His hands were bound behind his back; there was an ugly, purple, discolored bruise on his head.

He smiled sheepishly at her, though it was more of a wince. "Sorry, Astrid," he said.

Astrid's reaction was instant. "You _idiot!"_ she shouted. "You stupid _idiot, Hiccup!"_

"How did I see that coming?" Hiccup said, jerking against the hold the soldiers had on him. "Would you _loosen up already?"_

Viggo folded his hands and smiled. "Hello, Hiccup," he said.

Hiccup met his eyes, and then, after a few moments of silence, he sighed. "I should've known you weren't really dead," he said. "Implanting a traitor within our midst, tricking us into coming here...Ryker wouldn't have been smart enough to do that."

"Indeed," said Viggo. "Geniuses like us will either find a way, or make one, Hiccup Haddock."

Hiccup laughed mirthlessly. "You're fooling yourself, Viggo," he said.

Viggo shook his head. "There are two ways to be fooled," he said. "One, is to believe what isn't true, and the other, is to refuse to believe what is."

"Yeah, and what about lying, and deceiving yourself?" said Hiccup lowly. "Did you forget about that little detail, Viggo?"

Viggo looked at him. His expression wasn't readable. "Come," said Viggo. "Now that you have been reunited, we are moving you to your temporary cells to discuss something of concern."

And the soldiers dragged Astrid and Hiccup forward, following Viggo.

"What are you in for, Astrid?" Hiccup asked.

"Oh, you know me," said Astrid. "I try to keep out of trouble, you run off and do something stupid, and in the end, well, we both end up behind bars. What about you?"

"Ah, the usual," said Hiccup. "You guys get kidnapped, I get lured here, there's normally a lot of drama, someone always ends up doing something stupid, and the guards abandon their posts for some reason, and we manage to dumbfound these blockheads and escape. All in a day's work."

"Shut up back there!" snapped Ryker.

"MAYBE IF YOU DIDN'T KIDNAP US SO OFTEN," Hiccup called angrily, "I WOULDN'T HAVE A REASON TO PROTEST!"

Viggo opened another door that branched out from another tunnel, and the soldiers threw Astrid and Hiccup inside. The ground was made of brick, and Hiccup fell first while Astrid fell on top of him.

Viggo, Ryker, and Barreck stepped through the door and shut it, locking it behind them. Astrid and Hiccup got to their feet, hands still tied behind their backs.

Viggo nodded to Ryker, who stepped forward with a dagger. In two smooth slices, the bonds fell away.

"Now," said Viggo, "we would like to have a word with the two of you."

"Well, we're not going to stop you," said Hiccup.

"You kind of dragged us here against our will," said Astrid, "so if you have anything to say, say it now so we can return to our lives."

Ryker stepped forward, still clutching the dagger, but Barreck put out a hand to keep him back.

"Relax, Ryker," said Barreck. "Their sassy mouths can hurt us not. We are the ones with the weapons, but that does not mean we have to use them."

"Blade is correct, Ryker," said Viggo coolly. "You must learn to control your anger."

Ryker glared at them coldly. Hiccup and Astrid could feel the tension.

"We brought you here," said Viggo, "because I have a question to ask you both. The first question goes to Astrid."

He looked at Astrid. "Tell me honestly," he said. "You are dragon trainers, aren't you?"

Astrid didn't have a choice. She could see the hidden threat in Viggo's eyes: _if she didn't answer truthfully, something bad was going to happen, not to her, but to Hiccup_.

"Yes," said Astrid. "We're dragon trainers. What gave it away? The fact that we ride dragons every single time you see us? I'm surprised you even needed to ask the _question_."

"I was just clarifying," said Viggo, smiling coldly. "And the second question goes to Hiccup."

"You know what happened the last time you tried to interrogate me, Viggo," said Hiccup, sighing. "Your men ended up trying to get to Berk heading Northsouth. I pity those poor guys."

"Yes, indeed," said Viggo, "fools. But last time I interrogated you, Hiccup, I did not have _her_." He gestured to Astrid, and Ryker raised his dagger. "See where I am one step ahead of you, Hiccup?"

"One step forward," said Hiccup, shrugging, "two steps back."

"My question is this," said Viggo, ignoring him. "Ryker told me that you were the one to bring peace between the dragons by training a Night Fury," he said. "Is this true?"

"No way!" said Hiccup in mock shock. "You mean the Night Fury I used to fly here? Nope, there's no way I trained _him!_ Oh, and his name's Toothless, by the way. But no, didn't train him."

Astrid had to admit, she admired Hiccup's guts. It was either going to save him or kill him in the end.

"I was just clarifying," said Viggo, putting forward his hand. He thought for a few moments, silently pondering. "Training dragons," he said. "In honesty, Hiccup Haddock, I am interested in learning how one would accomplish that."

"Oh, seriously?" said Hiccup, moaning. "It's Alvin all over again! Yeah, he was a loose cannon, too…"

"Then let me put it this way," said Viggo, folding his hands. "You show me what you can do, or I'll kill Miss Hofferson here." Ryker stepped forward, fingering the blade of his dagger. "Now tell me, Hiccup," said Viggo. "What is your decision?"

Hiccup glared coldly at him, shifted his gaze to Barreck, and then Ryker, and then, finally, he looked at Astrid with a look in his eyes that Astrid knew all too well. She shook her head, slightly, to try and tell him not to do it, but it was too late.

He looked right up at Viggo, eyes narrowed.

"What kind of dragon?" he said, defeated.

"Hiccup!" Astrid shouted. "No!"

Viggo smiled, ignoring Astrid entirely. "I had been hoping you would ask," he said.


	4. Chapter 4

**Derp. :/ I'm a derp. :)**

 **But I _did_ make three updates yesterday so that's not half-bad. :) Anyways, this is chapter 4, and unfortunately, I won't be able to do shout-outs for this chapter...but I promise I will do shout-outs for the NEXT chapter, because I love you guys. :) **

**Anyways, enjoy chapter 4, and I'll see you all next chapter! :D Enjoy! :D**

* * *

"The dragon is called the Lethal Viper," said Viggo as he led Hiccup and Astrid down another sloping tunnel; Barreck and Ryker walked behind them, swords drawn to ensure they didn't attempt an escape. "And it is called that for its-"

"Oooh, no wait, let me guess," said Hiccup, twirling his finger around his temple. "It's got some kind of lethal venom."

Viggo turned to him, surprised, but with admiration. "You have heard of it before?" he asked.

"Briefly," said Hiccup.

"In which case," said Viggo, "I will not have to explain. Hasten, Astrid and Hiccup. The arena awaits."

"How do you know what that is, Hiccup?" Astrid whispered to him. "I've never heard of a dragon called the Lethal Viper before."

"Bork mentioned it in his notes," Hiccup explained in a small whisper, looking over his shoulder to make sure Barreck and Ryker weren't eavesdropping. "It's got fangs that hang out of its mouth like a sabertooth tiger, solid green scales, and is built more like a snake than it is a dragon."

"Okay, great," said Astrid sarcastically. "On a scale of Terrible Terror to Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus, how big is it?"

"Um...Night Fury…?" said Hiccup. "I don't know for sure. I've never seen it before, just in drawings."

"Great," said Astrid. "So do you have any idea of how you're going to train it?"

"Eh...train is such a strong word," said Hiccup, almost uncertainly. "I'm going to give it my best shot."

"You'd better," said Astrid. "I'd have to deal with Snotlout and the twins on my own without you."

"Well, the venom of the Lethal Viper is...well, obviously, it's lethal," said Hiccup, "and it kind of ensures more of a quick but painful death...you die within ten minutes of being bitten, and there's no cure. The venom kind of drips from their fangs; that's how they inject it."

"Yeah," said Astrid. "So don't let it use you for its pincushion, Dragon Boy."

"I have no desire to be it's pincushion," said Hiccup.

"Here we are," said Viggo, spreading his hands; a tall gate like the one leading into the Dragon Academy back on Berk stood between them and the open arena. "Now, Hiccup will remain here with Barreck until we are ready to begin. As for you, Astrid, you will be joining Ryker and myself at the top to watch."

Before Astrid could retort, Ryker seized her wrist again, and he and Viggo dragged her away.

"REMEMBER, HICCUP!" Astrid shouted at him over her shoulder. "IF YOU DIE FOR THIS, I'LL KILL YOU!"

"DULY NOTED, MILADY!" Hiccup called back. As soon as she, Viggo, and Ryker were gone, Barreck fastened two shackles around Hiccup's wrists, held the long chains attached to them, and pulled the lever to operate the door. The large gate swung open.

"You're a traitor, Barreck," said Hiccup as Barreck yanked him into the arena by his chains. It reminded Hiccup of the arena back on Berk, but at the same time, it was entirely different. The arena was underground and dug from earth; torches lined the walls, and the earthen canopy overhead stretched further than Hiccup could see. On any account, they were so far underground that any dragons they put into the arena would have no hope of ever escaping.

"I did what was necessary," said Barreck coldly, giving the chains an unnecessary yank.

"No you didn't," said Hiccup. "You did what you wanted to. No one forced you to betray us. You chose that for yourself. It was your choice, Barreck, and I'm sorry, but you've made yourself our enemy."

"I do not _care_ , Hiccup Haddock the Third," said Barreck. "You are the enemies of the world. You are nature's foes. The circle of life is hindered by you and your dragon training friends. Fate's spindle cannot continue its round. You must be taken out of the picture."

He took the end of one of Hiccup's chains, a gigantic, thick, wooden nail, and bolted the chain to the earth-brick wall of the arena. He soon followed with the other chain, bolting it likewise.

"You don't have to do this," said Hiccup.

"My loyalties lie within my friends," said Barreck coldly, "as do yours. Viggo is the only friend I ever had. I was born a hiccup. I was shunned my whole life by my village. But then, the village was destroyed by dragons. Many of us made our escape, myself, Viggo, and Ryker included. Viggo became my first friend, and when Viggo brought up the preposition of following him and becoming a dragon hunter...I couldn't refuse."

"So you're getting back at the dragons for destroying your village," said Hiccup. "Revenge."

"Exactly," said Barreck. "Viggo and Ryker lost their father in the raid. I will not allow anyone else to suffer at the hands of the dragons."

"You do realize that by hunting the dragons, you're kind of being counterproductive, don't you?" said Hiccup pointedly. "If you hunt, _you are going to be hunted!_ It's as simple as that!"

"Then that is what I will be!" Barreck snapped. "The dragons will be hunted, and we will be hunted in return! That is how it always was, and that is how it always will be! And no amount of pathetic little dragon trainers can ever change that!"

He leaned in closer; so close that Hiccup could feel his hot breath on his face.

"You," said Barreck dangerously, "will die here, in this arena, in front of Astrid, at the hands of a dragon. We'll see how the rest of your dragon riders take it when they see your dead body."

"My _friends_ ," said Hiccup, "will blame _you_ , not the dragon. You're digging your own grave, Barreck. All of you are."

"Enough!" Barreck finally shouted. "I will not be taunted by...by…"

"By _what?"_ Hiccup said challengingly. "A dragon trainer?"

"Training is for cowards," said Barreck. "Peace is for those too afraid to step forward and fight for what they believe in. The strong survive. The weak die by the strong."

And he turned and stormed away.

"You've got it all wrong," Hiccup called to his retreating back. "Brave men don't _kill_ dragons, Barreck!"

Barreck turned and looked at him, glaring coldly.

Hiccup smirked. "Brave men _ride_ them," he said.

Barreck smiled. "Not if they're _dead_ ," he said.

He left the arena without another word, slamming the gate shut behind them. He joined Viggo, Ryker, and Astrid at the top, where they were standing, overlooking the arena.

"You do realize that chaining me is going to kill me, right?" Hiccup shouted up to Viggo. "I can't really train a dragon if I can't really _move_."

"If you are smart, Hiccup," said Viggo, "you will either find a way, or you will make one yourself." He nodded to Ryker, and Ryker pulled on a large lever protruding from the wall.

Another gate on the opposite side of the arena flew open, and the Lethal Viper sprang from its maw.

The dragon was insanely snake-like, with a thin, winding body, but it was the size of a Monstrous Nightmare; definitely bigger than Hiccup had thought (and hoped). Its scales were a sickly green, and it had a slightly pointed snout. Two long, sharp fangs hang from its mouth; pasty green venom dripped from them and splattered onto the floor of the arena. Long, thick chains shackled the dragon's hind legs, trailing back into the cage, and whip marks littered the dragon's scales.

Hiccup swallowed, but quickly collected his senses. He had to focus. He couldn't exactly train the dragon (who _knew_ what Viggo and Ryker would do to it if they _trained_ that thing), but he couldn't exactly let the dragon kill him, either

Which left one other option.

Mutual respect.

The dragon lifted its ugly head and looked around. Its wild, bright yellow eyes found Hiccup, and it instantly charged over on its four, three-taloned legs.

Hiccup sucked in a deep breath, waited until the dragon raised his talon, and then, he dodged, pulling hard on his chains to take away the slack. The dragon's talons came down on the chain and, with a _clank_ , it snapped.

One down, one to go.

The dragon raised its talon again, and Hiccup dove beneath it, yanking hard on his second chain. With another _clank_ , the second chain was snapped. The shackles were still tight around his wrists, but at least he wasn't chained to the wall anymore.

At least now he could _run_.

And that's exactly what he did.

He turned and ran for his life. The Lethal Viper watched him curiously, head tilted to one side, no doubt wondering why Hiccup wasn't attacking, but then, he charged after him.

Hiccup dove. He was an expert at dodging attacks, especially from dragons, but this was a species he had never come across before, which made predicting its moves impossible. He barely missed getting bitten, and had to roll out of the way to avoid getting a talon through his chest.

"He has interesting ways of training dragons," said Viggo to Astrid on the platform above, "I'll give him that."

Astrid glared at him coldly. She could tell he was being sarcastic. "You're doing this to kill him," she said. "I'm not stupid. I know what you're doing."

"And what are you going to do about it, Astrid?" asked Viggo calmly. "Telling Hiccup won't exactly help him at this point, will it? He already knows I plan to kill him."

Astrid turned away from Viggo and back onto the ring below, biting her thumbnail in worry. She could tell in an instant that Hiccup had a plan, but that didn't exactly mean he knew what he was _doing_.

Hiccup dodged another attack from the dragon, and the Lethal Viper's talons sank deeply into the earthen floor. Hiccup, not taking any chances where he couldn't afford to be wrong, turned and raced to the other side of the arena.

He watched the Viper yank its talons free, and the, instantly, the dragon charged at him again.

This time, Hiccup didn't move. He didn't run. He didn't blink. He simply shut his eyes and held his wrists forward.

The wrists that still had dragon hunter shackles fastened around them.

The Lethal Viper skidded to a halt, just before slamming into Hiccup. Hiccup had shut his eyes tightly and turned his head, but as soon as he realized the dragon had stopped charging, he risked looking.

The dragon was staring at his wrists in confusion, sniffing them. He tilted his head to one side and growled.

Hiccup looked him in the eyes, and then, looked back down at his wrists. "See?" Hiccup said. "Look. I'm a prisoner, too."

The dragon sniffed the shackles again.

"I'm like you," Hiccup said. "I'm stuck here, just like you are. It's no fun, is it? Getting chained."

The dragon growled.

Above on the platform, Ryker had jolted forward in shock while Astrid sighed heavily in relief. "Why isn't the dragon attacking?" Ryker demanded. "Why isn't it attacking him!?"

"I know you've been hurt too many times to trust me," Hiccup said calmly, looking at the old and fresh whip marks striping the dragon's scales, "and that's okay. But we don't have to attack each other."

He held his wrists up again, and the dragon looked at him, almost sadly, as if pitying.

"We're in the same boat, you and I," Hiccup said. "I'm not going to hurt you, alright? I promise."

The dragon looked at him uncertainly, like Hiccup knew he would, so Hiccup, holding his hands out, began walking backwards.

"I'm stepping back now, alright?" he said. "I'm stepping back now."

The Viper stared at him, but then, slowly, it, too, began walking backwards, never once taking his eyes away from Hiccup's. The eye contact was almost unnerving, but within a few moments, Hiccup found himself on one side of the arena, and the Lethal Viper found himself on the opposite one.

Viggo looked at Ryker. "Cage the dragon," he demanded, and once Ryker had left to do as Viggo had commanded, Viggo looked at Barreck. "Return Astrid to the cell with her friends," said Viggo. "I will take Hiccup myself."

Barreck nodded, seized Astrid, and dragged her away. Viggo, meanwhile, turned, opened the gate, and headed inside the arena.


	5. Chapter 5

**ShadowSpirit020: Yeesss, you can just tell something bad is going to happen. XD**

 **Dimensional Girl: BITE THE EVIL HUNTERS, DRAGON! :D And LOL, no, I'm not the Flash, though sometimes I wish I was. XD**

 **Forever Me: Dagur's voice: And the plot thickens! :D Yeah, it's going to get even more crazy in a little bit, believe it or not. :D Oh, and the dragons are in the same prison as the other dragon riders, in a different cell; I cover all of that in this chapter. :D Thanks for the review! :D**

 **Animals Rule: Thanks! :D**

 **wikelia: Viggo must realize that he can't pitch a dragon trainer against a dragon and expect the dragon trainer to die. XD**

 **Guest (#1): I did, in fact, use lots of creativity. :) Naming a dragon the "Snow Wraith" isn't exactly super creative, either, but it works. I was trying to keep trye to the "simple yet not simple" style of the dragons. :) But I appreciate your concern. :)**

 **Guest (#2): Haha, LOL, he probably is. XD**

 **Guest (#3): And the plot thickens...*rubs hands together* XD**

 **midnightsky0612: They're either impressed that Hiccup survived, or they're disappointed. :D**

 **Dimentional Phaser: And that I shall! :D**

 **RubyTheSkyWing: Yes, we love to hate these villains. :D Sometimes while I'm editing my chapters before posting them I want to scream at the villains for being evil, and then I think, "Oh, wait, I wrote them in this part..." XD Hahaha! Thanks for the review! :D**

 **HappyPup1: DIE VIGGO DIE. :D**

 **bella: Yeah, what's going to happen? Who knows! Well, I do, but who else? XD And you'll find out where Dagur and Heather are later on, I promise. ;)**

 **Charr2003: Barreck...is...EVIL. DIE, BARRECK! :D Yes, I love Hiccstrid more than any other ship. I especially love writing about it. ;)**

 **Angel Azul: Don't worry about it, it's fine! :D I know how busy life is. :) I'm glad you like it so far, and I hope you continue to like it all the way to the end! :D Thanks for the review! :D**

 **Galaxy-Mitsuko-Pegasus: Yeah, just a little bit. :) Thanks! :D I had a blast writing that scene, too. :)**

* * *

Viggo stepped into the arena, clapping slowly. "Bravo, Hiccup, bravo," he said. "That was not exactly what I had in mind, but you survived. You lived to die another day, and for that, I congratulate you."

"Aw, how kind of you," growled Hiccup.

The chains shackled to the Lethal Viper's ankles began pulling it back into the cage, and the dragon, sadly, turned and slunk back inside, helpless and defeated. Ryker slammed the door behind the dragon and barred it shut.

"That dragon isn't going to trust anyone," Hiccup said, "no matter how many times you pitch me with it. You've hurt it too many times. It won't trust again."

"That is not my concern," said Viggo. "If you have befriended it, you need not worry. I can think of many other creative ways for you to meet your end. But for now, I will escort you to your cell. Come."

Hiccup really didn't have a choice.

…

Astrid was thrown back into her cell with Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins, who instantly ran forward as she got to her feet, brushing herself off.

"Astrid!" said Fishlegs. "We saw them bring Toothless in and put him with the other dragons! Is Hiccup here?"

"Yeah," said Astrid. "He's here alright." She looked at the cage, where the other dragons were still sedated, Toothless included. The dragon hunter soldiers guarding them were carrying small, sedating-dart shooting crossbows. Whenever a dragon showed signs of rousing, they would knock it out again with another sedation dart.

"Okay," said Snotlout, looking around. "So, where is he?"

Astrid didn't have the chance to answer before she heard the prison's entry door open, and Hiccup was brought in, flanked by Ryker and Viggo.

"Hello!" Hiccup called to Astrid and the other riders.

"Well, that's the end of it," said Tuffnut, banging his head against the wall. "We are officially done for."

"Put him in the cell across from them," said Viggo to Ryker. "We don't want him to help them plot their escape before we're through with them, do we?"

Ryker took Hiccup to the cage just beside the dragons', opened the door, and locked him inside. Hiccup looked around at the cell.

"Nice," he said. "Yep, I'll never get out of this. Good for you! You've finally figured out a way to keep me from escaping! It's about time, really-"

"Is it just me," said Snotlout, "or is Hiccup more sarcastic when he's frustrated?"

"It's definitely not just you, Snotlout," said Fishlegs.

"Enjoy your night, Hiccup," said Viggo. "For it shall be your last."

"Goodnight to you too, Viggo," said Hiccup. "And may visions of angry dragons forever haunt your dreams."

Viggo and Ryker left shortly after with Barreck coming in behind them. The dragon hunter soldiers remained behind, crossbows held in their grips, sedation darts poised and at the ready.

Tuffnut and Ruffnut started playing hangman in the dirt again. Snotlout whistled carelessly to himself for a few moments before one of the guards banged on the bars of their cell and demanded, "Shut up!" Fishlegs looked about ready to bang his head against the wall.

Astrid, meanwhile, watched Hiccup. He was pacing, every now and then looking up at the bars of the cell that held him captive, and then, looking at the guards pacing back and forth in front of it. Astrid knew the gleam in his eyes; he was already thinking of a plan, but what that plan was exactly remained to be seen.

"What are you planning, Hiccup…?" she whispered to herself.

"Hey, you, shut up!" one of the guards barked, rapping on the bars of the cell with his sword. Astrid didn't miss the anger that flashed briefly in Hiccup's eyes. Hiccup looked straight at her, and then at the guards.

 _What are you going to do?_ Astrid mouthed each word carefully, hoping he would be able to catch each of them and realize what she was asking. In response, Hiccup looked at her, and winked.

She instantly knew he had a plan, but the fact he didn't mouth back what it was told her that it wasn't one of his better ones.

Hiccup suddenly raced to the bars of his prison, grappled them with one hand, and waved to the guards with the other. "Yoo-hoo!" he called in a voice so cheery and sing-song it was almost unsettling. "Mr. Viggo's guards!"

Two of the guards turned to stare at him, no doubt thinking exactly what Astrid was: what was Hiccup _doing?_

"Shut up!" snapped the first guard, who Astrid guessed was the smarter of the two; if you were smart, you didn't let your prisoner (namely Hiccup) talk his way out of his situation. That was what Hiccup did better than anything.

"I want to talk to you guys!" said Hiccup, still smiling.

At this point, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut joined Astrid at the front of their cell, watching Hiccup, most with confusion, and others with potential shock.

"What is he doing?" said Snotlout in confusion.

"If you ask me," said Ruffnut, "I'd say he's trying to figure out a way to get out of here. But of course, no one asks my opinion, so whatever. But honestly…" She stared at Hiccup. "What _is_ he doing?"

"I said," growled the first guard, "shut up! We aren't interested in anything you have to say, brat!"

"Aww, but we could be such great friends!" said Hiccup. "And since I'm obviously going to be here for a while, we have all night to get acquainted! What do you say?"

"I _say_ ," said the second guard, "SHUT UP!"

"Oh, well that isn't very hospitable," said Hiccup, frowning. "I know I'm your prisoner and all, but really, lighten up, would you? What could I possibly do? I'm the one behind bars, remember!"

The guards stepped forward, and for a moment, Astrid wished Hiccup would shut up; who knew what Viggo's guards would do to him if he infuriated them any further.

"He's really lost it this time," said Snotlout, raising his hand and dropping it back to his side again. "I told you it was bound to happen someday. He's really lost his marbles. Crashed one too many times on Toothless."

"I used to think Hiccup losing his marbles would be funny," said Tuffnut, taking a step backwards, "but it's actually terrifying. Make it stop!"

"Shut up!" Astrid hissed, and her friends instantly listened. Astrid refocused her attention on Hiccup, still trying to decide what on earth he was planning.

"I've been working on my conversational French!" said Hiccup excitedly, grinning hysterically. "Would you like to hear it?"

"No!" snapped the guard angrily. "I do _not_ want to hear it!"

"Oh, come on!" Hiccup moaned childishly. "But it's _fuuuun!_ You can say anything you want, and no one knows what they heck you're talking about!"

"You had better shut up," said the guard, "before I call Viggo in."

"Oh, lovely!" said Hiccup. "I'm sure _he'd_ like to hear my conversational French! Bring him in! Tell him to bring Barreck and Ryker in with him!"

The guard stared at him.

"Well?" said Hiccup, shrugging. "Go on!"

"I will not be fooled by a mere boy," said the guard angrily. "Talk again, and I'll be forced to sedate you."

"Harsh!" Hiccup said, shaking his head. "Okay, so maybe you aren't into French! That's fine with me! I can also speak Latin! That's fun, too! Do you speak Latin?"

"I can't watch this," moaned Snotlout. "What on earth did Viggo _do to him_ before bringing him here?"

"Here," said Hiccup, "I can teach you French if you want, and we'll move to Latin later! Repeat after me: I am an idiot."

"That's not French, you idiot!" snapped the hunter.

"Nearly there!" said Hiccup, smiling. "See? It's not so hard, is it?"

The guard looked ready to sedate him, then and there, but instead of firing his crossbow, he turned his head; Stormfly's eyelids were flickering open.

Before the guard even had the chance to react, Hiccup grabbed the guard's arm, yanked the crossbow from his grip, and fired it. The guard fell to the ground, unconscious, a dart buried in his leg.

The other guards instantly sprang; Hiccup set the crossbow down and kicked it across the prison's floor. "Cover me!" he shouted, and when Astrid took up the crossbow, Hiccup reached his hand between the bars, grabbed the guard's prison keys off his belt, and began fiddling with the lock on the prison door.

Whenever a guard tried to approach, Astrid took them out with a well-aimed fire of the crossbow. Whenever a guard tried to retreat to bring in reinforcements, she took those out, too. Finally, Hiccup managed to get the door to his prison cell open, and he raced out, grabbed a fallen guard's sword, and threw the keys to Astrid.

Astrid handed the crossbow to Snotlout and began trying to unlock the door to their cell. Hiccup, meanwhile, with Snotlout, covered her.

Unfortunately for the dragon hunters, amidst all the confusion and hype of their escaping prisoners, they forgot about the rousing dragons. Stormfly, Meatlug, Barf, Belch, Hookfang, and Toothless, finally breaking free from their sedations, broke down their cell door and pounced on the nearest dragon hunters.

"Hiccup!" Astrid finally shouted after having tried all the keys on the ring. "Barreck has the keys to this cell!"

Hiccup muttered something in French that Astrid was sure he wouldn't have said in a language they could understand, and he, leaving the dragons to finish knocking the remaining guards unconscious, raced towards the cell and examined the lock.

"You're going to have to get the keys!" said Snotlout.

Snotlout barely had time to finish speaking before Hiccup raised his prosthetic leg and smashed it against the lock; instantly, it snapped and fell away, and the door of the prison swung open.

"Or, you could just kick it," said Snotlout lamely. "That works too."

They raced out of the cell, just as the dragons took out the last dragon hunter soldier. Instantly, the riders gathered weapons from the fallen soldiers; Ruffnut and Tuffnut each took a spear, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Hiccup took a sword, and Astrid took an axe.

Then, they, working together, dragged the guards into the cells they had recently occupied and locked them in.

"Just to be safe," Hiccup told them. "I doubt they'll be waking up for another few hours, though. The sedation darts were meant for dragons."

He turned to look at his friends, smiling. They smiled back at him, clearly feeling as achieved as he was.

"Alright," he said. "Now, we go get the Dragon Eye, and get out of this death trap."

"You know where the Dragon Eye is?" the others asked in shock, and in perfect unison.

"I do," said Hiccup. "It's on the right hand tunnel. We're in the left hand one. All we need to do is get out of here, grab the Dragon Eye, and we're good to go."

"Works for me," said Snotlout. "Let's go."

They headed up, taking with them each a small handful of sedation darts, just in case. They headed all the way up, and then, they turned down the right hand tunnel and headed towards the Dragon Eye below.

"It stinks down here!" muttered Snotlout angrily. "And that's saying something, because I smell a _lot_ of bad things!"

"Here we are," Hiccup announced when they walked into the room; the Dragon Eye still sat, unguarded, on the hay-colored pedestal with the candle chandelier hanging over it.

"Careful," said Astrid. "Something feels wrong. It could be a trap."

"Knowing Viggo, I'm sure it is," said Hiccup, and he carefully approached, sword drawn. His hand hovered over the Dragon Eye. Behind them, the dragons growled, and the riders held their breath.

Hiccup grabbed the Dragon Eye and pulled it off the pedestal.

For a few moments, nothing happened.

And then, the chandelier overhead shuddered ominously and fell.

"Hiccup!" the others shouted, and Hiccup just barely managed to dodge before the chandelier came down on top of him. It smashed the pedestal below it, and the crashing sound created by it rang throughout the area.

"Uh oh," said Hiccup.

"Um, yeah, uh-oh!" said Snotlout. "I bet every dragon hunter on the island heard that noise!"

"Okay," Hiccup said, racing forward, "Fishlegs, I need you to do something."

"Okay," said Fishlegs uncertainly, "what is it?"

"I need you," said Hiccup, slipping the Dragon Eye into Fishlegs' hand, "and Meatlug, to take the Dragon Eye back to the Edge."

"What?" said Fishlegs. "No, wait! I can't leave you guys here!"

"You don't have a choice, Fishlegs!" said Hiccup. "We've come too far! If you and Meatlug get away with the Dragon Eye, we'll have an advantage! We'll meet up with you soon enough! If we're not at Dragon's Edge within the week, alert my father and send reinforcements!"

Fishlegs looked at them all uncertainly.

"Go, Fishface!" said Snotlout, giving Fishlegs a small shove in the right direction. "We'll cover you! Get the Dragon Eye out of here!"

Fishlegs nodded, called to Meatlug, and the two of them headed off. Hiccup, the other dragon riders, and their dragons followed him up the tunnel.

They watched until Fishlegs and the Dragon Eye were safely away out the exit and on their way back to Dragon's Edge before Hiccup turned back to face the remaining riders.

They could already hear the footsteps of the approaching soldiers; no doubt Viggo, Ryker, and Barreck were among them. Hiccup smiled at his friends and raised his sword.

"So," he said, "who's ready to fight some dragon hunters?"

The riders grinned and raised their weapons in response.

"In that case," said Hiccup, and he raised his sword over his head, "death or glory!"

"Death or glory!" the rest of them echoed confidently.


	6. Chapter 6

**Oh my _gosh_ , guys, I think I'm losing it. THREE UPDATES, ALL WITHIN TEN HOURS. :/ Ohh, I love weekends! :D Am I moving too fast? Let me know if I am, please? If you guys want me to slow down I most certainly will. :) My goal is to post all 13 episodes in this fanfiction series before the next Race to the Edge season comes out. :) **

**Oh, and I might eventually go back and write 13 episodes that would go between seasons 1 and 2, because, y'know, I have a season 2b, and there will be a 3b, so why not make a 1b? Just for fun? :)**

 **Anyways, I talk too much. XD Shout-outs:**

 **Galaxy-Mitsuko-Pegasus: Oooh yeah, I LOVE Hiccup's plans. :D**

 **ShadowSpirit020: Haha, definitely. ;) Go team dragon riders! :D**

 **Dimensional Girl: Haha, yeah, Hiccup and French...definitely hilarious. :) Hahaha, yeah, I've wanted to see Hiccup sing SOMETHING for a while, which is why I made him sing in "Skeletons in the Closet". I want to see Hiccup sing something. :)**

 **bananablight: Thanks! :D Yeah, I thought I'd put those little references in there. ;)**

 **MaximumRide159: Hiccup is THE MASTER of sass. :D**

 **Dimentional Phaser: That it is, that it is. He should lose his marbles more often. XD**

 **wikelia: If there was an episode of Race to the Edge that was just twenty minutes of Hiccup sassing his enemies, I would be pretty okay with that. XD I love book references! :D I'm glad some of my readers are catching them! :D**

 **RubyTheSkyWing: Ooooh...no spoilers! XD Remember how I told you I was excited about this fanfic? And remember one of the things I like to write most? (*cough cough* hurting characters *cough*). XD We'll see what happens! :D Ooooh, Venom Wing. Spooooooooky...thanks for the review! :D And that's a good suggestion for a story! :D I'm not so sure if I'd write it any time soon, but I'll definitely keep it in mind. :)**

 **Animals Rule: Well, reviews definitely make me want to keep writing, so yes, I believe they do "stoke the fires of my imagination." ;)**

 **Forever Me: Viggo and his hunters should die. I don't think I want them to become the Berkians' allies like the Outcasts did. I'm kind of hoping the dragon hunters will end up tied in with Drago...but who knows. :) Thanks for the review! :D**

 **SnivyDragon: Go team! Beat up those hunters! :D Yeah, but remember, Hiccup and the other riders still aren't exactly sure WHERE Dagur is or whose side he's on. So, yeah. They probably won't be rescuing any Berserkers any time soon. :)**

 **Martyn: He wasn't pretending to be drunk; just mentally deranged. XD**

 **The Brucest Writer: Oooh yeah, I love it when Hiccup rials up his enemies. He's so hilarious, oh my gosh. I want to see more of Hiccup getting captured in the future; as long as he escapes with his hysteric talk and terrific sass. :D**

 **LunarCatNinja: Yes! Hopefully! :D**

 **HappyPup1: DEATH OR GLORY! GO DRAGON RIDERS! :D**

 **Jo: Yes, we all hate Viggo and Barreck. LET'S KILL THEM BOTH. XD**

* * *

As soon as the dragon hunters showed themselves, the riders wasted no time in raising their weapons and fighting back. Hiccup raced against Ryker head-on, and Astrid, flanked by Ruffnut, went for Barreck, while Snotlout and Tuffnut, working together, went against Viggo.

Viggo could fight better than anyone could have expected. The dragons backed up their riders, delivering helpful blows whenever they could. Many of the dragon hunters that had attacked were already unconscious; and their numbers certainly weren't growing.

But neither were the numbers of Hiccup, his dragon riders, and the dragons. Hiccup parried with Viggo, and Toothless bashed a dragon hunter upside the head with his tail. "Thanks, Toothless!" Hiccup called, and then, he whirled around and parried with another soldier sneaking up from behind.

"Hiccup, there are too many of them!" Snotlout shouted. "We're not going to be able to hold them off forever!"

Hiccup was about to shout back, but then, at the last second, he stopped himself. An idea had blossomed in his head, and it was a good idea, one he wasn't going to shout out for all the dragon hunters to hear.

Without warning, he turned, ducked beneath a soldier, and ran down the center tunnel before anyone could see him or stop him. Toothless followed him closely, knocking any soldiers unconscious who dared try and follow.

Down they headed, and when they reached the conference room, they turned to another door and kept walking, moving down, down, down, towards their destination.

Towards the dragon hunter's arena.

…

Snotlout danced around Ryker; Viggo had gone off to who-knew-where, no doubt hiding to contemplate his next move, like he always did. Coward. While Snotlout shouted insults and kept Ryker's focus on him, Tuffnut sped behind Ryker, sword raised.

"Hey, Ryker!" taunted Snotlout, grinning madly. "Maybe you should stop fighting! It would keep your face from getting any uglier!"

Ryker growled and slashed; Snotlout ducked and dodged expertly out of the way. Meanwhile, Tuffnut was closing in from behind with Barf and Belch hot on his toes, a sedating dart clutched tightly in his hand.

Snotlout expertly dodged another attack, and this time, Ryker was becoming impatient. He swung a poorly aimed blow, and Snotlout, as easily as if he had done it everyday, dove once again.

"Come on, Ryker!" teased Snotlout jeeringly. "You're so slow, you make a slug look like a Speed Stinger! Come on, hit me!"

Ryker didn't get a chance to "hit him"; Tuffnut finally snuck up, and, seeing his chance, jabbed the sedation dart into Ryker's shin. Ryker instantly dropped his weapon and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Yeaha!" Snotlout laughed, and he high-fived Tuffnut in triumph. "Nice move, Tuff-man!"

"Not so bad yourself, Snot-guy," said Tuffnut, grinning. And the two turned and took on the next dragon hunter that approached them together.

…

Hiccup and Toothless ducked and ran about the long corridor, heading downhill all the while, hiding when guards did their rounds and hoping against hope no one spotted them in their lurkings.

"Hey! You!"

No such luck. Toothless' sweeping tail caught the offending guard in the chest and smashed him against the wall; he crumpled to the floor, unconscious, and Hiccup and Toothless continued further on and on.

Finally, a long way down and a few dozen guards later, they had reached the arena. Hiccup raced towards it instantly, and Toothless followed him, looking uneasy.

…

Astrid bashed the flat of her axe against a dragon hunter's head, and as soon as he was unconscious, she spun and did the same to another hunter who had been (most foolishly) approaching her from behind. Stormfly fired a few well-aimed spines at dragon hunters; when the spines caught bits of their leather armor and pinned them to the walls, Ruffnut raced forward and sedated them with her darts.

Astrid looked around wildly.

She had finally realized that Hiccup was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Hiccup?" she asked lamely, scanning her surroundings with her eyes. Another soldier came up against her, and she was forced to abandon her search long enough to take care of him.

Snotlout, too, had realized that Hiccup was gone - but he also remembered that HIccup wasn't the only one missing. "Um...I'd be a bit more concerned on where _Viggo_ is," said Snotlout.

Viggo _and_ Hiccup gone without a trace?

This definitely wasn't good.

But Astrid didn't have time to do anything about it; another hunter came against her, and she had no choice but to fight back, hoping all the while that Hiccup was okay, and that wherever he was, Viggo wasn't with him.

…

Hiccup pulled on the lever that operated the main gate, and as soon as it swung open, he raced inside with Toothless. "Fire at the lock, Toothless!" Hiccup said, pointing to the large cage on the opposite side of the arena, and Toothless fired a plasma blast with expert aim.

The lock was smashed, and the Lethal Viper raced from the door, hissing and snarling, venom dripping from its fangs. Toothless arched his back and growled threateningly at it.

"Easy, bud," Hiccup said. "From what I read, its venom isn't deadly to dragons, and it knows I won't hurt it." For emphasis, Hiccup put his hand forward, and though the Lethal Viper didn't press his muzzle against it, he didn't try to snap it off, either.

"Alright," said Hiccup, lowering his hand, shackles still fastened around his wrists (he would have to get those off soon enough, somehow). "I know you're against dragon hunters," said Hiccup. "But I need your help, too."

The Lethal Viper looked at him, comprehending every word and waiting for him to elaborate.

"My friends are in danger," Hiccup explained. "The dragon hunters know how dangerous you are. They won't try and take you down. If you can distract them long enough for us to escape, you can escape with us and be free to roam the wild as you please, as long as you promise never to poison a friend of the dragons."

Hiccup held out his hand.

"Deal?" he prompted.

Viper looked at him, and then, after just a moment, pressed his head briefly against Hiccup's palm. Hiccup lowered his hand, and Viper lowered his head.

"Deal," said Hiccup. "In which case, let's get those chains off you…"

The chains weren't dragon-proof; clearly, the Lethal Viper had no fire to use against them, and all it took were two plasma blasts from Toothless before the shackles fell away, and Viper was free. The dragon roared in joy; it had clearly not been free for a long, long time.

"I'm glad," Hiccup said, smiling. "Now go."

Viper bowed his head respectfully and shot towards the exit unit, out of the arena, and back up the long, steep tunnel. Just as Hiccup turned to follow him out, slow but pronounced clapping met his ears.

"Good show," said Viggo, clapping. "I knew you would free the Lethal Viper."

Hiccup turned to stare Viggo in the eyes, glaring. Toothless roared at Viggo furiously. Viggo only smiled in response.

"Hiccup," he said, and now, he frowned. "Why do you live?"

"Because every time you have the chance to kill me," said Hiccup slowly, pronouncing every word, "you give me plenty of time to escape by asking me _philosophical questions!"_

Viggo's frown only became deeper. "Perhaps you are right," he said. "In which case, we should stall no longer."

"I agree," said Hiccup, nodding. "Look, Viggo, right now, I have the upper hand in the battle. You might as well not even try. I've got a Night Fury, sedation darts, and a sword, and what've you got? A sword? You're outnumbered, Viggo. You've lost this time."

Viggo's glare darkened.

"Oh, you mean," said Hiccup, slightly sarcastically, "you didn't realize that your precious Dragon Eye has been stolen back? That's right, Viggo! The Dragon Eye is hundreds of miles away from here by now, safely away from the likes of _you_ , and there's _nothing you can do about it!_ What do you have to say to _that?"_

Viggo took a deep breath, composing himself. "We have been playing cat and mouse for far too long, Hiccup," he said. "One of us must die eventually."

"Yeah, _eventually_ ," said Hiccup. "But eventually isn't now."

He mounted Toothless, keeping his sword close. "Let's go, bud," he said, and Toothless spread his wings and shot after the Lethal Viper, leaving Viggo standing there, alone in his own arena.

Hiccup was right, though Viggo would never admit it.

For the second time, Viggo had lost to Hiccup.

…

Astrid had just been knocking out a dragon hunter soldier when the Lethal Viper from the arena underground came barreling into the room, roaring furiously, showing off its long fangs, dripping with thick, pasty, lethal venom.

Instantly, the surrounding dragon hunters screamed, dropped their weapons, and turn tail and ran for their lives. Snotlout and the twins weren't too far off; Astrid finally called out to them.

"Guys, wait!" she shouted. "Hiccup befriended him! It's okay!"

Snotlout and the twins stopped trying to escape. However, they didn't look particularly reassured, and it wasn't exactly hard to see why. None of them had ever seen a dragon like the Lethal Viper before, and those fangs _definitely_ looked deadly.

The Lethal Viper was quickly followed by Hiccup and Toothless. Toothless landed on the ground beside it, and Hiccup dismounted, heading towards the other riders.

No dragon hunters (except the unconscious ones, Ryker amongst them) were to be seen.

"I should have known you would go back for him," said Astrid to Hiccup, motioning to Viper.

"Yeah," said Hiccup. "He's free to return to the wild now, where he belongs."

Viper looked at Hiccup, and then at the other riders. Hiccup nodded to him, and Viper instantly took off once again, wings folded across his back. He raced from the tunnel and took flight, never to be prisoner of the dragon hunters ever again.

"Okay," said Snotlout, sounding as though he had held his breath for too long and couldn't breathe properly as soon as the Lethal Viper was gone. "What...in Thor's name...was that thing?"

"I'll explain it all later," said Hiccup. "Okay...so Viggo is in the arena, and Ryker is here…" He frowned. "Where's Barreck?"

The others looked at each other, frowning.

Barreck had disappeared, too, sometime during the battle, and none of them had even noticed.

"Um…" said Tuffnut. "No idea…?"

"It doesn't matter now anyways," said Astrid quickly. "We'll fly up and take out Viggo's watchtowers. There could be archers waiting for us there."

"Right," said Hiccup, nodding. "Astrid, Stormfly, Toothless and I will cover you three." He pointed to Snotlout and the twins. "Your goal is to get back to Dragon's Edge, make sure Fishlegs made it there safely."

"I'm sure Fishface made it there fine," said Snotlout. "You guys are going to need all the help you can get if you have a chance at taking out these guys."

"Then it's settled," said Astrid. "We take out the dragon hunter watchtowers and double back around to make for the Edge. Any questions?"

"Nope!" said Ruffnut, grinning. "For once I think we know what we're doing."

"Good!' said Hiccup, smiling. "Mount up, everyone!"

They mounted their dragons and flew from the mouth of the tunnel, into the light of the hot afternoon sun. Instantly, shouts filled the air, just as Hiccup knew they would, and dragon hunter arrows impregnated with dragon root were fired up at them.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut soared down towards one of the gigantic watch towers and fired at its base; it fell over sideways, towards the ocean, and the dragon hunter archers standing atop it leapt off into the sea.

"Yeah!" said Ruffnut in triumph, slugging Tuffnut's shoulder; at the same time, Tuffnut punched hers.

Snotlout, meanwhile, soared Hookfang towards another nearby watchtower; all it took was one expert fire from Hookfang, and the tower collapsed in on itself, landing in a heap of smoking wood.

"Way to go, Hookfang!" cheered Snotlout in triumph. "Snotlout and Hookfang, oy oy oy!"

Astrid soared Stormfly close to the ground, towards another watchtower. Three spine shots and a blast of fire later, the tower fell sideways. As it fell, it brought down its neighboring watchtower with the domino effect, and Astrid cheered in triumph.

But as she cheered, Hiccup looked back towards the ground.

Barreck was standing in front of a fallen, smoldering watchtower, a long-range firing crossbow held in his grip, aimed straight at-

"ASTRID! MOVE!" Hiccup shouted desperately.

She couldn't move in time.

The crossbow was fired. Hiccup heard her scream. He watched her fall off Stormfly's back, falling towards the forest below. He watched Stormfly turn and dive after her; he watched Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut turn their dragons and follow in pursuit.

But he didn't fully register anything. His eyes burned. He wanted to do a million things. He wanted to steer Toothless in that direction and make sure she was okay.

But his fury took ahold of his better senses, and he found himself turning Toothless in the opposite direction, towards Barreck.

Toothless landed on the ground in front of him, and Hiccup dismounted, eyes narrowed dangerously. He drew his sword and held it in front of him between him and Barreck, teeth gritted, hands slick with sweat, eyes burning, the edges of his vision black.

"You shouldn't have done that," Hiccup said, his voice such a low growl it was barely audible.

And he raised his sword, screamed in fury, and attacked.


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey...FOURTH UPDATE TODAY. OH MY GOSH. OH MY GOSH I MADE FOUR CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY. WHAT ABOUT THAT? I AM EXTREMELY HAPPY NOW! :D VERY HAPPY! :D I LOVE GETTING CHAPTERS TO YOU BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE! :D Shout-outs:**

 **wikelia: Yeah, that was pretty evil of me...sorry. :(**

 **LunarCatNinja: That he will be. :)**

 **HappyPup1: Hiccup is VERY mad! :) Aww, I wish I could watch it, but I don't have a tumblr account, and tumblr won't let me see it unless I do. If you put it on YouTube I can see it. :D Thanks for the review! :D**

 **Book Obsessed 400: Aww, thank you! :D I'm glad you like it so much! :D Yeah, I don't plan on changing my updating any time soon. Writing is what relieves me of stress, so it's really nice. :D Thanks for the review! :D**

 **Charr2003: Yyyeeaaahhhhh...I am extremely evil...sorry about that...:/ Well, there will be Hiccstrid at least! You know that for sure! :D Sorry about that horrible cliffhanger, but I'm glad you're still enjoying it! XD**

 **ShadowSpirit020: No one messes with angry Hiccup...AND LIVES. XD**

 **HufflePufforlife: Oooh yes, Barreck is finally going to get what he's had coming to him for a LOOOOOONNNNNNGGGG time. :D**

 **RubyTheSkyWing: Yes, yes, we all want Barreck dead. Even me. :D Thanks for the review! And I, too, care deeply for Hiccstrid. :D**

 **bella: Yes, Hiccup is VERY mad...Barreck should know better than to get Hiccup angry...XD**

 **Dimensional Girl: Hiccup 1, Viggo 0. :D Yay! :D**

 **Gamer Spice: Yeah...let's see what happens! :D**

 **Animals Rule: Yep, Hiccup's angry. Watch out, dragon hunters. EEK! :D And I love Frozen, too! Great episode! :D**

 **Galaxy-Mitsuko-Pegasus: Oooooh, Hiccup is going to KILL BARRECK. Oh my gosh, is he angry with Barreck now...**

 **Guest (#1): Well, Barreck's backstory has already been explained. :) There's not much more to him than that. :)**

 **Dimentional Phaser: That's right. Oh dear. :(**

 **SnivyDragon: Oooooh no, not ambitious at all. In fact, I quite enjoyed writing this chapte...heh heh heh...*rubs hands together* Well, I'm glad no one minds my fast updates! :D Because I love updating. :D**

 **The Ink Splotches: Yeaaaaaaahhhhh I just did that. I'm evil. :(**

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Hiccup couldn't think. He could barely breathe. All he could feel was anger and hatred burning through his blood like adrenaline. He felt lightheaded. He couldn't exactly do anything else but fight. That was all he knew at this point.

He pounded his sword against Barreck's, which Barreck had drawn, dropping his crossbow in the process, the instant Hiccup came against him. As soon as Barreck met his blow, Hiccup swung for another one furiously, aiming for _anything_ that would take Barreck out. Anything that would make him pay for what he did. Anything, anything, anything, strike, blow, parry, fight, fight, fight, _fight_...

He pressed his sword against Barreck's; the metal of the swords clashed against each other with a horrible din. Barreck grinned fiendishly, pressing his own sword further against Hiccup's, leaning his entire body weight against it.

"I knew it," said Barreck, smiling. "I knew taking her out of the picture would destroy you. Look at yourself, Hiccup Haddock. Think about what you are doing. You cannot defeat me. I will not be beaten by you."

"And I will defeat you," Hiccup snarled right back. "I will beat you, and you will be defeated. You will regret it. You will _regret it,_ so _badly_ , Barreck."

"Are you threatening me, Hiccup Haddock?" said Barreck challengingly, gritting his teeth, shoving his entire body weight into pushing against Hiccup's sword.

"Yes," Hiccup said. "I am threatening you." He swung back his weapon and fought Barreck. He was hardly aware of what he was doing anymore, actually. All he knew was that he was angry. He was _furious_. He didn't want to murder Barreck, but it was pretty close. He wouldn't have cared at this point if Barreck died.

Barreck was a murder himself. Even if Hiccup captured him and took him back to Berk, he would be condemned a murder and doomed to die a murderer's death.

Hiccup's vision was blurry with tears. He couldn't see straight or think straight to see his life. Barreck, in Hiccup's brief moment of distraction, managed to push him over; Hiccup fell to the ground, and he didn't make a move to get up.

What was the point, anyways? If he got up Barreck would kill him; if he stayed down Barreck would kill him. It didn't matter anymore. He no longer cared.

But then, just when he was sure it was the end, the Lethal Viper swooped out of nowhere, roaring angrily in Barreck's face. Barreck, unfazed, drew up his crossbow; but before he had the chance to fire, Viper sped towards him, opened wide its jaws-

Barreck dodged. He wasn't bitten.

But Viper's lethal venom-dripping fang scratched Barreck on the arm, leaving a long, jagged gash in his flesh. Hiccup looked up at Barreck in horror. Barreck looked at his arm, at the Lethal Viper as he retreated, and then, at Hiccup.

Barreck collapsed to the ground, conscious, but dying.

"Kill him...!" Barreck cried hoarsely, raising his hand weakly at Hiccup. "...K-kill him, you blasted _f-fools!"_

That wasn't good. Hiccup was instantly surrounded by dozens of dragon hunter soldiers; he didn't know how many there were. He was still having a bit of a hard time seeing anything for what it was, anyways.

He raised his sword. His eyes still burned, his arms still ached, and through everything, he still couldn't see very well, the edges of his vision still black, fury still coursing through his veins like a virus.

The first of the dragon hunters attacked, and Hiccup met them head-on in battle. Toothless took care of the background things, toppling over the remaining watchtowers and knocking down archers, smashing their crossbows beneath plasma blasts like fireworks, reducing their weapons to splinters.

Hiccup knocked out soldier after soldier. They kept coming at him. He took them down, one by one, little by little, furious hit by furious hit. He didn't kill any of them; he simply took them down, even though they deserved death for their deeds, even though a small part of him wished to see them all dead...

He knocked another soldier out with the hilt of his sword, and when the soldier hit the ground unconscious, Hiccup spun around and did the same to another soldier. He punched one square in the face; he smacked another one with the butt of his weapon.

He kept fighting.

And he kept fighting.

Fighting.

And fighting.

On.

And on.

...

Snotlout landed Hookfang and quickly dismounted, racing forward, weapon drawn, but at that moment, he realized he shouldn't have bothered. Hiccup, teeth gritted, eyes narrowed, bashed the last of the dragon hunter soldiers with the hilt of his sword, and the soldier collapsed, unconscious.

"Oh my Thor," Snotlout said in disbelief.

It wasn't just the one soldier who had been knocked unconscious – it was dozens of them, lying scattered about the ground. Snotlout tried to count them all...he got up to seventeen before he gave up.

Hiccup was panting heavily, his chest heaving, a mixture of sweat and tears running down his face. A long cut striped his cheek red; he held his sword so tightly his knuckles were white. His bangs fell over his eyes.

"Hiccup," said Snotlout, looking around in confusion. "What did you _do?"_

Hiccup swallowed thickly. It looked like hard work. He straightened up and sheathed his sword at his belt. "Where's Astrid?" he demanded, but his voice wavered and cracked.

"The clearing in the forest," said Snotlout easily, and Hiccup wanted to strangle his cousin for all he was worth; he said it with such ease, as if Astrid hadn't literally been shot out of the sky by the arrow of a strong crossbow. "But Hiccup-"

Hiccup didn't even listen to what Snotlout might have had to say after that. He turned, mounted Toothless, and headed off. "Hiccup!" Snotlout shouted after him, but Hiccup didn't turn back. "Come on, Hookfang!" Snotlout said, mounting his dragon, and Hookfang shot into the sky after Hiccup and Toothless.

Toothless soared through the sky and landed in the first clearing Hiccup saw; Stormfly, Barf, and Belch could be seen from above. As soon as Toothless' legs hit the ground, Hiccup leapt off the dragon's back and charged over, the Night Fury close on his heels.

"Astrid!" Hiccup shouted, hoping against hope she would answer, but no one called back. Ruffnut and Tuffnut were crowding around someone, and Hiccup wasted no time in pushing them out of the way and throwing himself down to his knees.

Astrid's eyes were closed. Hiccup's vision blurred so badly he couldn't tell anything else for a good long while. He was just about to sob, because he was sure he was gone, but then, he looked down.

There was no blood.

There was no arrow sticking out of Astrid's body.

"What...?" Hiccup whispered faintly, and then, he saw it: he saw the arrow, but it wasn't lodged into Astrid's skin.

It was lodged into the amber of the hourglass necklace Hiccup had made for her, all those months ago. The necklace she hadn't taken off since the day Hiccup gave it to her. The necklace that had somehow, miraculously, saved her from the arrow heading straight for her chest.

It seemed too good to be true.

And it was made even better when...

"Oh...urgh...what...?" Astrid's eyes cracked open as she moaned, and she glanced up at Hiccup in confusion. "Um...what happened?" she said in confusion.

That was it.

"ASTRID!" Hiccup shouted, and he pulled her into an embrace so tight he was sure he was hurting her. He couldn't help it. He squeezed her tightly and let out a dry, choked sob, unable to fathom what beautiful miracle had just occurred.

Astrid, confused as ever, didn't know what else to do but hug Hiccup back, especially when she felt him shudder and his tears of relief (though she still had yet to learn why he was crying at all) hit her shoulder.

"Hiccup!" shouted Snotlout from above, and Hookfang landed on the ground. Snotlout instantly leapt off the dragon's back and hurried over. "I was _trying_ to tell you, the arrow missed! She's okay!"

Hiccup knew this _now_ , and he was overwhelmed by it. Astrid finally put it together. She remembered the crossbow arrow flying towards her; then, she remembered falling off Stormfly's back, and getting caught by Stormfly at the last second. She must have hit her head upon landing, because the last thing she remembered seeing was the ground flying up towards her.

Hiccup didn't know the arrow had missed until now.

He must have thought she was _dead_...

For the longest moment, neither of them moved. They simply held each other, relieved that through everything, they had made it out alright.

Finally, Hiccup and Astrid parted their embrace, and Hiccup wiped his tears off his face with the heel of his hand. He laughed weakly, but honestly, from his heart. "You're okay," he said breathlessly.

Astrid nodded. "Thanks to your necklace," she said, holding up the charm. The entire arrowhead was lodged deep within the amber; Astrid took the shaft of the arrow and snapped it off, leaving the arrowhead embedded in the arrow. She cast the shaft of the arrow aside, smiling.

"YES!" cheered Snotlout so suddenly that everyone (including the dragons) jumped. "We did it, we did it, oh, yes, we did it! We got the Dragon Eye back, we defeated Viggo and his goons, and everyone's alive! I say this calls for a celebration!"

"Let's celebrate _after_ we get back to the Edge, Snotlout," said Astrid. Hiccup stood, offered her his hand, and once she took it, he helped her to her feet.

"Alright!" said Snotlout, and he was so excited he leapt onto Hookfang's back and took air before the others had even time to approach their dragons. "Let's go! Snotlout, Snotlout, oy, oy, oy!"

"Ruffnut and Tuffnut, oy, oy, oy!" cheered the twins, mounting their dragons and taking off into the sky after Snotlout.

Hiccup and Astrid mounted their own dragons, and, after smiling at each other, directed their dragons into the sky so that they flew right alongside the other riders.

For once, everything seemed perfect.

...

Viggo stepped up to upper ground and nearly reeled back in shock. His watchtowers were all over the place, destroyed beyond hope of repair – he would have to get those fixed. Unfortunate. And what was more unfortunate than that was the fact that dozens of his soldiers laid unconscious on the ground, showing no signs of waking.

But the really, _really_ unfortunate thing was the only conscious person on the battlefield besides Viggo; and this conscious person was also a _dying_ person.

"Blade!" Viggo shouted, and he raced over instantly, towards the side of his best friend who was more like a brother. Barreck looked at Viggo weakly, and Viggo instantly began looking him over, checking for obvious injuries...

Oh no.

Oh _no_...

The only wound was a large gash on Barreck's arm, but the gash was surrounded by black, yellow, and purple bruising, and Viggo knew that only a certain venom – the venom from the Lethal Viper dragon – could cause such a wound.

And venom from the Lethal Viper dragon was...well... _lethal_. There was no known cure, no known escape from death once the venom was injected.

It was the end for Barreck.

"NO!" Viggo shouted. "Barreck, you must live! You must! I cannot do this without you, my friend!"

"You must do it without me," said Barreck, lowly and weakly, because these were some of the last words he would ever speak. "This entire fight...between you and Hiccup...I have realized what it is. It is...Maces and Talons, my friend...and the traitor dies in the end...the traitor always dies in the end, despite what side they are on..."

"No!" said Viggo desperately. "There must be something! You must know of a cure, you _must!"_

"I do not," said Barreck, "and you know there is none. It's alright, Viggo. I am honored to die for the greater good. Honored, my friend. Just...promise me one last thing."

"Anything," promised Viggo.

"Promise me," said Barreck, "that no matter what happens, you will get back the Dragon Eye. The Dragon Eye is your key to victory. Steal back what was stolen from you, Snare, and I would have died in peace."

"I promise," said Viggo, nodding feverishly. "I promise, Blade."

Barreck smiled. "Thank you," he said, "old friend..."

And he breathed his last.

The instant the life left his body, Viggo raised his head and screamed to the wind. "HICCUP HORRENDOUS HADDOCK THE THIRD!" he screamed, torn between pain and fury. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS! _DO YOU HEAR ME!?"_ He raised his fist and pounded the air. " _YOU. WILL. PAY!"_


	8. Chapter 8

**...guys...**

 **Guys, I seriously just finished this story.**

 **Guys.  
**

 **FIVE UPDATES IN ONE DAY. THAT IS A NEW RECORD FOR ME IN THESE 13 EPISODE FANFICTION SEASONS.**

 **So it's late and I have a migraine (drat!), so I'm not going to be able to do shout-outs this chapter, BUT IF YOU GUYS ARE LUCKY THE NEXT EPISODE IN THIS FANFICTION SERIES WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW! :D :D :D YAY! :D So, the ending author's note is at the end of the chapter, as usual! So, stick around! I've got a lot planned for the final episodes of "Race to the Edge: Fanfiction Series 2B"! (My official title for this fanfiction series! :D).**

 **ENJOY THE FINAL CHAPTER! :D**

* * *

On Dragon's Edge that evening, they _did_ have a celebration. Fishlegs and Meatlug had returned safely with the Dragon Eye, and now that they were all reunited once again, they decided to celebrate the return of the Dragon Eye and their victory over Viggo and the dragon hunters.

They sat together at the round table at the Clubhouse, their dragons feeding on large buckets of fish nearby. Snotlout raised his flagon, full of a sickly-sweet herbal drink Fishlegs and Hiccup had come up with.

"Cheers to us!" said Snotlout. "And to victory over the dragon hunters!"

They clinked their mugs together. Astrid couldn't help but notice how stiffly Hiccup did it when normally he was so lighthearted about just about _everything_. She sighed. Maybe she would ask him about it later if it kept up.

Later, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut played shoot-the-apple-off-your-friend's-head-without-killing-them while Fishlegs and Astrid talked about what they planned to do first with the Dragon Eye, now that they had it back in their possession.

"...And tomorrow, we'll look at Bork's lense!" said Fishlegs. "That will be so exciting, Astrid! Who knows what Bork put on there! Maybe another island, maybe the Land-That-Doesn't-Exist, who _knows!_ The possibilities are endless!"

"Yeah, sounds great, Fishlegs," said Astrid, but she wasn't exactly giving Fishlegs her full, unhindered attention. Her attention was focused simply on Hiccup, sitting on a bench by himself in the corner, staring at the ground.

Astrid couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. Finally, after another moment, Hiccup stood, unaware that Astrid was watching him, and left the Clubhouse. Astrid, brows furrowed in confusion, prepared to follow him.

"And after that..." said Fishlegs.

"Um, can you give me a second, Fishlegs?" Astrid said, rising to her feet. "Sorry, I'm just going to go get some air. I'll be right back."

"Okay!" said Fishlegs. "Sure! Oooh, this is so exciting..." He started fiddling with the gears of the Dragon Eye, which was sitting on the table. Meatlug watched him, equally excited.

Astrid left the Clubhouse, the sounds of laughter and arrows being fired from bows fading as the doors shut behind her. She looked around, and once her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw Hiccup walking in the opposite direction.

"Hiccup," she called to him, hastening to catch up. Hiccup stopped in his tracks and turned around to look at her.

"Yeah?" he said.

"I was just wondering if something was wrong," said Astrid, looking into his face for any sign that he was lying. She could always tell when he was lying; he was a horrible liar, anyways. A _blind_ person would be able to tell that he was lying.

"I'm fine, Astrid," said Hiccup, smiling faintly, but the smile was a lie; it was fake, she could tell that in an instant. "Don't worry about me."

"You know, Hiccup," said Astrid, "whenever those words come out of your mouth, I have the strangest urge to sock you in the shoulder. So, come on. Tell me what's bothering you."

Hiccup sighed heavily. "I don't know," he said. "I'm just kind of...tired, I guess."

"Mmm-hmm. Look, Hiccup, I've seen you when you're tired. You deny it forevermore and eventually end up passing out somewhere random. You aren't tired...well, you probably are a little bit, we all are...but I think there's more to it than that. Can you tell me I'm wrong?"

Hiccup sighed heavily for the second time. "No," he said quietly. "I can't."

Astrid waited for him to explain, and when he didn't, she pressed the subject; "Can we talk about it?"

"There's not much to talk about, Astrid," said Hiccup. "I'm just kind of...kind of...I don't know, honestly…"

"Snotlout told me what you did," said Astrid out of the blue, and Hiccup raised his head to look her in the eyes. "You knocked out how many dragon hunters? Twenty?"

"I wasn't counting," Hiccup said quietly. "I...I just…" He paused and looked down again in defeat. "I thought they killed you," he said flatly, almost silently. "I...I lost myself for a minute."

"So I heard," said Astrid. "But Hiccup, you don't have to be upset about that. It's not your fault. I didn't react much better after Viggo stabbed you. I wanted Viggo and all of his men dead."

"But I can't help but think," said Hiccup, and now, he was stepping back, looking slightly hysteric, "what would've happened if...if the arrow didn't hit your necklace, if it hit you instead...I couldn't...I can't-"

She stepped forward and embraced him tightly before he could finish his thought. Hiccup, after another sigh, embraced her back equally tight, his cheek pressed against the top of her head, her cheek pressed against his chest.

"But it didn't," said Astrid. "It didn't hit me, and we're both fine, alright? Both of us. That's all that matters, right?"

Hiccup didn't answer right away. "I guess so," he said. "And we got the Dragon Eye back. That ain't half bad."

"There, see?" Astrid said, still not relinquishing her hold, and Hiccup didn't loosen his own, either. "We got the Dragon Eye, we all made it out okay in the end...everything can go back to normal. We'll map the world, you can finish that weird Monstrous Nightmare sword you're working on, Snotlout and the twins can keep being idiots, and Fishlegs can keep obsessing over dragon knowledge."

"Back to normal, you say?"

"Well, normal for _us_."

"Better...Astrid, I don't know-"

"I won't go dying on you any time soon, alright?"

"Alright…"

"But you have to promise me," said Astrid, "that if I _am_ in danger somehow, you won't save me. I can't stand the thought of you dying, either. Promise me that, alright?"

For the longest moment, when Hiccup didn't say anything, Astrid thought he might not have heard her.

"Hiccup?"

"Um...and if I say no…?"

She pulled back, balled her fist, and slugged him on the shoulder. "YEOWCH!" Hiccup shouted, reeling backwards, hand on his shoulder. " _What_ in the _name of_...Astrid! We were having a moment!"

He sounded so offended it was almost comical, and Astrid couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry," she said, "but you know I love you, Dragon Boy."

"Yeah!" said Hiccup. "But I thought I was past getting socked on the shoulder!"

"Nope," said Astrid. "As long as you're a hopeless idiot, you can expect many bruises from here on out." She looked back at the Clubhouse, still in her line of sight, and then back at Hiccup. "You want to go join the others?" she said.

"Well...I don't know…"

"You should," said Astrid. "We're celebrating."

"Um…" Hiccup hesitated for just another moment, and then, shaking his head with a small laugh, he sighed. "Alright," he said. "Let's go join the others."

He offered her his arm, and she put her hands on his forearm. Together, they walked back towards the Clubhouse, where their friends were waiting.

…

Viggo stormed through his hidden prison cells, located even further underground than the dragon kill ring. Down he walked, prison bars flanking him on the walls, black cloak billowing behind him, until finally, he came to the prison cell at the very end of the line.

Heather and Dagur were sitting, moping helplessly on the ground. Viggo pulled his keyring from his belt and unlocked the cell's doors; instantly, Dagur and Heather looked up, and Viggo, without hardly even thinking about what he was doing, drew a dagger from his belt.

"You," he snarled at Heather. "The traitor. The traitor always dies. ALWAYS!"

He lunged forward, so full of hatred and fury and pain that he wasn't even thinking about what he was doing. But before his dagger even came close to touching Heather, Dagur flung himself forward, putting himself between the blade and his sister.

"Don't you _dare_ touch her!" Dagur snarled, gritting his teeth in rage. Heather looked at him; she was still trying to get used to the concept of Dagur defending her when for so long they had been against each other.

Viggo tightened his jaw. "Move out of the way, Dagur," he ordered.

Dagur planted his feet firmly on the ground. "No," he said.

"Dagur, don't-" Heather said, but Dagur put up his hand to silence her.

"If you hurt her," said Dagur, "it's over. I'll withdraw my men. They'll always take orders from me, not you. I gave you _my_ allegiance, but if you so much as lay a _finger_ on Heather, my men will turn against you. It will be a _slaughter_."

Viggo looked at Dagur, and then looked at Heather, shielded by her brother. Viggo finally sheathed his dagger in defeat, but he didn't leave just yet; he jabbed his finger at Heather, eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You will die, Heather," Viggo growled. "The traitor always dies in the end. _Always_."

With a sweep of his cloak, he turned, slammed the cell's door, and locked it back. Then, he walked briskly back up the tunnel.

He had vengeance to plot.

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 **Author's Notes:  
**

 **BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.**

 **AM I EVIL OR AM I EVIL.**

 **CLIFFHANGER! AGAIN! AND YOU GUYS HAVE TO WAIT (not very long) TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE NEXT STORY! :D You can read the summary for it on my profile, if you fancy! :D I'll see you all next story if you choose to continue on with this series! :D Love you guys! :D**

 **Cheers!**

 **-BeyondTheClouds777**


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